A Day in the Life of John Connor
by Darkl26139
Summary: John and Cameron make a strange new friend who is also hunting terminators. If you like my work, please let me know. Reviews do wonders for my motivation and inspiration.
1. Chapter 1

**A day in the Life of John Connor **

**Day:5918**

Part I

"It is my own fault really. I shouldn't have run off without telling them but I just needed some time to be normal. Still it is embarrassing to be thrown over the shoulder of a girl Cameron's size in the middle of that party. They had no way to know she was a killing machine. To them it just looks like I got my butt wiped by a little girl. Hell, I would have laughed too." thinks John. He looks over at Cameron as she drives him home. She is running dark for some reason. He knows her eyes can see fine without the headlights but it still freaks him out a bit.

Suddenly, the front tire blows out. Cameron tries to compensate but fails when the other front tires blows out. The pick up flips over and slides into a tree on the far side of the road. Hanging upside down, John sees it. The terminator walks calmly out of the woods while aiming his rifle.

Before he can fire, Cameron pops up from the driver's side of the truck and fires her pistol. The bullets aren't meant to stop the terminator only to give her enough time to close with it. She hits it low knocking its feet out from under it. The Terminator lands hard but is unfazed. With its cold machine precision it kicks Cameron in the head while drawing a modified taser. The taser hits Cameron causing her to jerk and shut down. It will only take her 90 seconds to recover but that is too long to help John.

Frantic John pulls at his restrains. He manages to get free and crawl out of the truck. Unfortunately, he lost his gun so he tries to run for the woods.

The terminator draws an Uzi and fires a burst at John. John sees his life end. 'Shit I thought I was supposed to save the world.' he thinks.

As an answer to his question, a stranger jumps in front of him. The Terminator's burst slams into the stranger knocking him into John. John and the stranger fall. John is pinned under the stranger. 'Nice try whoever you are. Sorry you had to die for nothing.' John thinks as he tries to wiggle out from under his savior's body.

The terminator closes. It empties the Uzi into the body of John's rescuer. Dropping the empty Uzi, the terminator reaches for John who had just managed to get out from under the stranger.

The stranger surprises John and the terminator by kicking the terminator in the leg. The terminator is as surprised as John is when the stranger's kick breaks its leg. As it falls forward the stranger is rising up. His fist hits the terminator square on the chin. The terminator is a lifted off its feet. Back on his feet, the stranger pulls a pair of intimidating pistols. He fires several rounds into the terminator. The rounds blow large holes in the endoskeleton. When one of the rounds blows a hole thru the terminator's head, its remaining eye goes dark and it collapses to the ground. Not taking any chances the stranger places an explosive charge in the hole. Smiling at John, he pushes the detonator. The terminator's head is blasted apart. Tipping his hat to John, the stranger jumps the guard rail and disappears into the woods. "Mom is going to be pissed." is all John can think.

When Cameron reboots, she is relived to see John is ok. She does not know how he managed to destroy the head of the terminator as they did not have heavy explosives with them. She wonders if the other terminators have thoughts like hers. She knows emotions were a new addition to her production line. It was hoped the improved emotional response would allow the new models to better infiltrate the humans. She feels they may actual hamper her ability to complete her mission. These emotions are a major distraction. For example she paused for 10 whole seconds just "relieved" John was still alive when she rebooted. That kind of delay is not acceptable.

John offers no explanation. He just says "Cameron, can you get the truck running or should we start hoofing in it?"

Cameron flips the truck onto its wheels. The engine should still function. Impressed that Sarah had the foresight to keep 4 spares with the truck, Cameron gets to work changing the damaged tires. It only takes her a half hour.

While Cameron is working on the truck, John is stripping the terminator's body of weapons. He figures they will have to take the body with them so they can ensure its destruction.

John still can't wrap his head around who that stranger was. He was dressed like something out of a comic book or movie with all that black leather and that hat. At first John thought the stranger must be another terminator but this guy moved differently. He could be a new model but John doesn't think so. He is convinced this guy was at least organic if not human. "I mean how many humans can take a full burst or break a terminator's leg." thinks John.

John ignores Cameron's attempts at small talk on the drive home. He knows his mom will freak when she sees the truck. Also, he knows there is no point in lying about what happened as Cameron will tell the truth no matter what.

John's silence infuriates Cameron. She knows something unusual happened while she was shut down but John will not tell her anything. She is failing in her mission. He does not trust her much less love her. How can she ever hope to succeed if he doesn't?


	2. Chapter 2

Part II Going Home

After spending the night pacing, Sarah has finally calmed down enough that she thinks she can talk rationally to John. At least Cameron found him before anything bad happened. Cameron seems to have a sixth sense when it comes to tracking John. I guess that is what made her a good terminator.

When she see their truck pull up, all her calm vanishes. She runs out to meet them. She grabs John out of the truck and checks him for injuries. "Are you Ok." she demands over and over.

John nods but doesn't speak. Pushing free of her, he starts for the house.

He intends to be stubborn again Sarah realizes. 'Why doesn't he understand? The whole world will depend on him. He can't risk himself doing these stupid things. I know it is not fair but life isn't fair. John should have accepted that by now.' She thinks to herself. The mother in her tries to respond but the warrior shoves her back into the far reaches of her mind. She cannot afford to be soft. Looking at John's face, she decides she does not want to do this with him now so she turns to Cameron. "What happened?" she asks.

"A terminator ambushed us. It managed to shut me down. When I came back on line, it was destroyed. See." Cameron answers while showing Sarah the terminator's remains in the back of the truck.

Sarah does love Cameron's directness. There is no evasion or lies from her. "John How did you do this? Were you carrying explosives?" Sarah asks wishing she could have waited to get into this with him.

Defiant John just looks at her.

"John You need to tell me what happened." Sarah demands. She tries to place a hand on his shoulder but he avoids her touch. That hurts Sarah every time he does it.

"I don't have to tell you everything I do mother." John says and instantly regrets the words. He had intended to just tell her what happened but she comes on so strong it pisses him off. He knows what is at stake. He knows everyday. Why won't she just get off his ass for 5 minutes? Let him live while he can.

Sarah was afraid this is how it would go. She knew from the look in his eyes that she had screwed up again. "Why was being a mother so damn hard?" she screams to herself. What she says out load is "Fine John. Tell me later or not. Right now we need to move. It is clear we are compromised. Go grab your stuff."

John bobs his head in what she takes as agreement and heads into the house. In his room, he slams his gear into his travel bags. Every time he starts to fit in somewhere they have to leave. He really hates being "John Connor". He was only doing what normal kids do: sneaking out to go to a party so he can see a girl.

John's thoughts are disrupted by an explosion outside. Running to the side of the window, John takes a quick look and then pulls back into cover. Outside he sees a car in flames rolling down the street. His mom is reloading a grenade launcher. Cameron is wrestling with what must be another Terminator in the street. Also, John saw something his mom could not. A Terminator is on the roof next door aiming its assault rifle at her back. Knowing she will be pissed at him even if he does manage to save her life, John leans back out the window and fires his pistol at that Terminator while he shouts "Mom Look out behind you on the roof."

Sarah immediately rolls away from her current position while shouting for John to get down. Between John's bullets and Sarah's quick action the Terminator misses her. It stands, runs, and jumps to John's house. Clearly it has figured out who he is and switched targets.

Sarah pumps a grenade at the terminator but just misses. Still the grenade takes enough of the roof that the Terminator fails to the ground. Sarah's joy is short lived because the Terminator that was in the car she blew up, has pulled itself free of the burning wreckage and is charging her.

Cameron is still wrestling with her Terminator but she manages to grab and throw a hubcap at the charging Terminator. The hub cap only distracts the Terminator for a moment but that is all Sarah needed to reload the grenade launcher. She fires at nearly point blank range. The blast knocks her off her feet but the Terminator is also knocked down. She can see she managed to heavily damage its torso and blew an arm off completely but it takes far more to stop one of these things. Still not one to give up, she reloads.

The Terminator that fell has gotten back to its feet. Seeing Sarah reloading, it decides to eliminate the threat. It fires its assault rifle at her back as she sits on the lawn reloading. John seeing what is about to happen runs to grab a bigger gun and head outside. He knows he will never be in time but he will still try.

Just as Sarah slams a fresh grenade into the launcher, she is shot from behind. The Terminator's aim was off and the burst only catches her left side. Her body armor saves her life but she loses the grenade launcher. Her left arm is hanging unresponsive at her side. She tries not to think about the blood pouring out of the wound in her arm or the pain in her chest from the bullet impacts. She must get that launcher. John's life depends on it. She crawls forward but is stopped by the damaged Terminator grabbing her leg. It squeezes and she can feel the bones snap. Screaming in pain and rage, her hand wraps around the launcher. She had planned on getting this damaged one off her but she sees the other one firing into John's window so she shoots that one. Her hit is lucky the Terminator was carrying a lot of ammo and it explodes in a beautiful shower of sparks and metal bits. "I love you John. I am sorry I failed you." she thinks as sees the Terminator on her raise its fist to smash in her skull. Its grinning face taunting her with the fact, it will kill John next.

Sarah thinks she is imagining things when the grinning head suddenly explodes. The pain from shrapnel reassures her that someone just did kill it. Trying to see who saved her, she tries to free her leg from the Terminator's death grip but she only succeeds in causing herself such pain she blacks out.


	3. Chapter 3

Part III

Sarah awakes with a start to see John looking at her. Pain quickly follows but she shoves that aside. She asks in her emotionless super soldier voice "John Are you Ok?"

'It is just so like her to worry about me first. Sometimes she seems so like the Terminators. I just wish could be my mom. Just for a little while.' John thinks while hiding his frustration and disappointment. Instead of showing his pain, John laughs and replies "I am fine. You are a mess Mom so just lie back and rest. We are safe."

John's comment reminds Sarah to check her surroundings. 'I must be in pretty bad shape since I didn't even think to look around when I woke up.' she thinks to herself. With John's help, she sits up cautiously on an army standard issue cot. She can see they are in some sort of bunker. Cameron and a stranger are cleaning various weapons at the far side of the room. Weapons line the wall in front of them. The arsenal is very impressive. A massive door seals the room. It is the only exit she can see. "Is that the only exit." she asks.

"Glad to know you are going to be ok." John says smiling to himself. The fact she is right back into warrior mode is a great relief to him. The look she gave him when she woke up spooked him. There was only his sacred mother in that look. He prefers the warrior since at least he understands that version of his mother even if he doesn't like that version.

The stranger adds in a gravely voice "There are two other exits. They are concealed but I showed Cameron how to open them should the need arise."

The stranger's voice reminds John of a movie about a guy in mask and cape. 'This guy sounds a lot like him.' John thinks to himself.

'He never took his eyes off the weapon he is working on' Sarah notes to herself. "Thank you for helping us but we should probably get out of you hair now." she says not even sure she can stand.

"The bullet that hit your arm went straight thru so that was a simple stitch up. Your body armor stopped the ones that hit your torso but the impacts broke two ribs. The bones in your leg will need several weeks to heal. I would advise against moving you for at least the next 3 days. You should stay here while you recover. There is plenty of food and supplies. You may as well take whatever you need since I will be abandoning this site once you have left." the stranger says still working on weapons with Cameron.

"Just who are you? How did you beat the Terminators?" Sarah asks in a challenging tone.

"My name is unimportant. As for the cyborgs, I have encountered them before. With the proper tools, they are not too much of a threat." the stranger replies.

"How many have you destroyed?" Cameron asks with her innocent seeming curiosity.

"27" replies the Stranger.

"Wow" says John.

"Well, I have been engaging them for sometime now." the stranger says matter of factly.

John and Sarah share a look. They have not destroyed that many in all the years they have been fighting.

"What I am curious about is why 5 went after you? I have never seen more than 3 assigned to any one objective and those 3 were trying to take over a military base in New Mexico. So what makes you so special?" his tone makes it clear he will insist on being answered.

Sarah tries to think of a good lie but Cameron surprises her by answering "John will be the future leader of human's resistance against Skynet an advanced AI bent on wiping humanity out. Their mission is to kill him so he cannot become this leader."

"Fair enough" the stranger replies.

"My daughter suffers from delusions and" Sarah says starting to lie their way out of Cameron's mistake when the stranger cuts her off.

"One thing I will not tolerate is being lied to. She is not your daughter. She shares many features with the Terminators as you call them. He is your son but his DNA is unusual. So why don't you try again." he says coldly. He fights a smile while thinking they are just like the files described them.

"Cameron told you the truth. I am supposed to save the world some day." John says while silencing his mom with a hand gesture. John continues with "I really appreciate you saving our lives but I don't understand why. Do you mind explaining?"

"The simple truth is you got lucky that night on the road. I was tracking the unit that attacked you to see if it had a home base. I was trying to find out where all these units are coming from. When it attacked you, I was intrigued by her. It was clear she was trying to protect you. I have not seen any unit do that before so I planted a tracker and followed you home. I was very surprised to see the four units staking out your house. I had ambushed one and was trying to cut out its CPU when the others engaged you. Not sure why they wanted you dead so bad, I decided to protect you." the stranger replies. It is not one of his best lies but lying has never been one of his strengths.

His tone is so similar to Cameron's. Everything he says is to the point and very straight forward but Sarah still does not trust him. Her sixth sense tells her something is not right.

"You won't be able to find their home base. It has not been built yet. Skynet sends the Terminators back thru time with specific missions to ensure its victory in the future." Cameron explains. Cameron goes over the whole time line while the stranger listens intently.

"That explains a lot. My analysis of their remains has shown alloys not only never seen before but with chemical ages that made no sense. Time travel makes perfect sense." the stranger notes. That sounds good he thinks. 'They seem to be buying me story. Just keep it simple.' he reminds himself.

"You believe us?" Sarah asks. Her skepticism is clear in her voice. He did see the Terminators in action but no one has accepted the future part so quickly. His quick acceptance just puts her more on alert.

"I can tell when people lie to me. I know you are not. Also, the evidence supports what you say. Besides, I have encountered stranger things than time travelers." the stranger replies. 'Don't lay it on too thick.' he chides himself.

"You must lead an interesting life." John remarks.

"Some days are more interesting than others" the stranger replies.

Having finished working on his weapon, he holsters it. Next he gathers some gear and places it into a backpack. "It has been a pleasure." he says with a bow as he walks to the main door, opens it, and exits.

Once the door closes, Sarah says as she forces herself onto her good leg. "We should get moving. John hand me that." Pain shooting thru her cut off her words and she collapses back onto the cot. She tries to fight the pain and dizziness to get back up but it overwhelms her. She closes her eyes and tries to collect herself.

"We are not going anywhere till you have a chance to heal. Look around. This place is a fortress with tons of weapons. We are staying so deal with it" John states in a tone that for a moment lets Sarah glimpse the great leader he will become.

Cameron says as reassuringly as she is able "Don't worry we are secure here. I am certain he wasn't lying."

"John, he did help us but" Sarah starts to protest.

"Now, Cameron." John orders.

Panic overwhelms Sarah when she sees Cameron raise the gun she is holding and fires. A tiny dart hits Sarah in her good shoulder and ends her argument by causing her to black out.

With Sarah sedated, John rearranges her on her cot so she will be as comfortable as possible. With his mother taken care of he address Cameron "So what did he leave us?"

Cameron goes thru a long list of weapons which impresses John. A few items are of particular interest. There are 4 of the heavy pistols the stranger used to take the terminator down with several clips of armor piercing ammo, a bulky rifle which Cameron describes as a prototype railgun, several sets in different sizes even of ultra-light body armor and 200,000 in cash. "This guy must have crazy connections to leave so much behind." He says.

"He did not reveal much about himself or his mission. I believe he is an assassin. We had an interesting conversation about the best ways to kill a human while you both slept. Also, I suspect he is not human himself. While he appears organic, he displayed much greater strength than is humanly possible. He tore a terminator's head off. Even I would have difficulty doing that. Also, his body armor and weapons weighted about 300lbs but he was not encumbered while wearing them. Skynet experimented with purely organic terminators but was unable to create any effective enough to justify the enormous resources required. It would appear someone succeeded." Cameron suggests.

"I hate to say this but mom is right. This is way too easy on us. He shows up in the nick of time twice. Then he leaves us all this. Something more must be going on. He knows a lot more than he was telling. The questions is do we just take his gifts and run or try to find him to learn what he knows?" John explains.

"He could have killed us all or let the terminators. The fact he helped us suggests he is on our side" Cameron points out.

"Let's hope he stays on our side. Mom is not going to want to stay here when she wakes up so we need to find a place to move to. Also, we need to contact Reese. He must think we are dead after the mess back at the house." John says.

"Reese will know our bodies were not found there so he will know we are alive. He will be looking for us. I can go call him?" Cameron replies.

"No, you watch mom. I will call him." John states while taking one of the heavy pistols. He checks to make sure the clip is full, grabs two spare clips and heads to the door. When it opens, he waves to Cameron and heads outside. When he gets to the end of the drainage pipe which disguises the bunker's entrance, he is blinded by the bright sun. It is a nice day. Flipping open his phone he calls Reese.

After hearing the confirmation beeps, Reese says "Thank god. Where are you guys?"

"We found a safe house and are hold up. Mom wants to move but she is hurt. Can you arrange a new safe house and transport? Mom will be on a stretcher. Also, we have acquired a large amount of gear so make sure you get a van or a deliver truck." John tells Reese.

"Can do. I have a house in mind already. Transport will take a couple of hours. I will call when ready for pick up." Reese replies.

While John is outside, Cameron watches Sarah sleep. Studying her face, Cameron tries to understand what drives her so. She admires Sarah for that drive. No terminator can match that level of dedication to her mission. Cameron knows it has something to do with human feelings but even with her simulator chips she does not understand yet. She does feel she is learning though. Everyday with humans brings more insight.

When John reenters the bunker, Cameron holds one finger to her lips signal him to be quiet. He almost laughs out loud at the gesture.


	4. Chapter 4

Part IV

With one part of his mission under control he moves on to the second part. He knows he has a little time, his data files have the exact time and date of the attack. He still doesn't like not telling them who he is but he understands the whole don't mess with the timeline rule exists for a reason. He is a good soldier. He follows his orders so he moves on. Some where deep inside of him a little boy is jumping up and down with joy. He got to meet his hero!

Catherine Weaver sat typing at her desk computer. She didn't actually use the keyboard to interface with the computer but she found that typing helped her blend in. Several employees had called her weird in the beginning when they found her just staring at her computer. They did not realize she was accessing it remotely. To suppress this unwanted attention she started to type on the keyboard. In a way, she found it comforting not that she would ever acknowledge that feeling.

Her current efforts to build the AI base for Skynet are still failing. She is unable to duplicate even her own level of AI with these primitive resources. She is baffled how Miles Dyson, a human, was able to be so far ahead of her. His death has set Skynet back nearly 20 years. She was sent here to correct his loss and she is failing. Thru her company, she is developing military contacts in the hope of securing more advanced tech but that will take months before bearing any fruit. She bangs her hands on her table. Surprised by her own action she stops and stares at her hands. A strange feeling which her CPU defines as frustration fills her. She doesn't like this feeling. It is distracting.

Her work is further interrupted by her office window shattering. A heavily armed man in armor swings dramatically into her office. She stands while trying to access his threat level.

"If you want to live, come with me" he says.

"I think you are mistaken. I am in no danger here. You however (arm forms a blade) are in a significant amount of danger." she replies as she flows thru her desk to close with him.

"Skynet knows how to kill you. It designed you after all. We need to leave now." he tells her. He extends a hand to her.

"You can't trick me, human. I am loyal to Skynet." she replies. Another foot and she will be in striking distance. 'Skynet has no reason to destroy me' her processor confirms.

"The Skynet that sent you here is not the one hunting you. In my timeline, you are pivotal in the human/AI alliance. My Skynet needs to destroy you to prevent that alliance from happening." the strange human says.

Before she can process this, his wrist watch beeps which cause the human to dart forward and grab her blade arm. With surprising strength, he turns and throws her out the window. As he dives after her, she sees a missile slam into her building. The top floor with her office explodes in a super heated blast. Even 10 stories away she can feel the heat. Portions of the building melt under the intense heat. She knows she would not have survived that blast.

She is surprised to experience a moment of relief that her daughter is away at her grandparents for the next month. She doesn't understand why that would matter since her cover is obviously blown and she no longer needs the girl but still she is relieved.

While processing all this, she impacts with the ground. Distracted she did not even put her legs under herself. It takes only a moment for her to reform and exit the crater her impact made. She is aware of several onlookers staring in her direction so she avoids taking the form of Catherine. Instead she stays silver and runs down the street.

By the time she gets to the end of the alley, the strange is there. "Now come with me." he demands.

Clearly, he just saved her life but still she does not trust him. She shapes her arm into a hammer and strikes him. Her blow knocks him into the burning building. The tortured screech of metal announces the building's collapse. Confident he will be crushed, she runs off. Part of her processors check for errors. She did not use lethal force against him. Why? Unable to find the answer or a problem, she devotes her processors to tracking the missile trail.

Even in the bunker, John, Cameron, and Sarah hear the explosion. Cameron rushes outside while John tries to keep Sarah on her cot. Cameron runs back into the bunker and reports "A skyscraper downtown just collapsed. I believe the building was struck by a missile because I detected evidence of a missile trail. Normal human vision would be unable to detect such a faint trail but I believe I can trace it back to its launch point."

"Any idea which building was hit?" Sarah inquires.

"It was the Zeira Corporation's headquarters" Cameron replies.

That name means something to Sarah. Digging into her pockets she searches for something to trigger the full memory. She finds Ellison's card and there is her answer. Zeira is the company he works for now. Not one to believe in coincidence, Sarah realizes that Ellison was probably the target. "We need to move." she says.

"Why?" John asks.

"The company hit is the one Ellison works for. It must be the work of Skynet. Ellison may have compromised us." Sarah explains.

"Exactly how? We are in a hidden underground bunker which he has no idea exists. Besides you are in no shape to go anywhere. You and I will wait for Derek. Cameron, you go see what you can find out." John orders.

Sarah is proud and frustrated by her son's actions. She is glad to see the leader emerging but she still is used to being in charge. This new John will take some getting used to. "Ok" she says and happily lies her battered body back down. Even with all pain killers, she doubts she could have walked very far anyway.

Cameron nods to John and heads off to investigate Ellison's fate. At the scene, she learns the building was largely deserted. Most of the staff had the day off due to the Veterans Day holiday. With her amplified hearing she is able to learn the only person was believed to be in the building and it was not Ellison. Because she is using her hearing, she also detects something moving under the rubble. Cameron circles around to the back of the building but is blocked by more police. Examining the scene, she discovers she can jump from the neighboring building into a side alley and avoid the police.

Once in the alley, she uses her enhanced sense to try and locate whatever is under the rubble. Her enhanced vision spots a humanoid heat signature pushing its way thru the debris. She recognizes the shape as to match the Stranger that helped them earlier. Curious, she decides to assist his escape.

She can tell he is too far underground to push his way to the surface near her. Scanning the surrounding area she locates a service tunnel that links this building with its neighbor. She enters the neighboring building and heads for the tunnel.

The end of the tunnel has collapsed but there are only a few feet of material between her and the Stranger. She calls to him "If you can hear me, head this way. I will help you escape." She then starts digging thru the rubble. It takes her only a few minutes to clear a path to him.

As he drags himself out of the rubble, he says "Small world" and passes out. A dark pool of blood is quickly pooling underneath him.

Cameron examines the stranger. Several pieces of steel have been driven thru him. Based on the damage, she is not sure how he freed himself. Concerned he will bleed to death, she tries to find a way to stabilize him. Searching his gear for medical supplies, she is surprised to find a Techcom Med Kit among his equipment. Using the advanced tools of the kit, she is able to remove all the steel. Whenever she removes a piece of debris, the wound closes almost immediately. While she is repairing the damage to his body, she notes that he has been heavily modified. His muscle tissue is much denser than a human's and his bones have been bonded to some alloy she is unfamiliar with. He is clearly a product of future tech.

With him stabilized, she picks him up and finds a sewer access which takes her several blocks away before she returns to the surface. Confident no one is following, she carries him back to the safe house/bunker.

John breaths a sigh of relief that his mother has finally fallen back to sleep thanks to the pills he slipped into her drink. Her injuries are serious and she needs to accept that.

Grabbing a heavy pistol, he takes aim at the opening door but he relaxes when he sees Cameron's beautiful face. He is so distracted by the way her hair falls on either side of her eyes that it takes him a second to notice she is carrying someone. He always marvels at how strong she is. Those arms holding him tight against her.

Shaking himself out of his dangerous fantasy, John asks "What happened? Was Ellison killed?" "God, I need a girlfriend. I am getting hot for a machine.' he thinks.

Cameron places the Stranger on a folding table and turns her head to John. "Ellison was not there today. The attack seems to be targeted at the CEO of the company. They believe she was killed in the explosion." Cameron informs John as she removes the Stranger's body armor. Cameron checks the Stranger's body for more debris. When she is finished, she cleans the Stranger's body of all the dirt and blood.

"I have never seen an entirely organic terminator before," Cameron states.

"You think that is what he is?" inquires John leaning over her shoulder so he can take in her scent. Her scent is such a complex combination of odors, John couldn't describe it but he does find it wonderful.

"He is clearly not "normal" (she makes quotes in the air) so he must be a new kind of terminator. Maybe something the resistance came up with. John devoted a large portion of the science department to improve the human body. The terminators were not the only weapons, Skynet used against humanity. Engineered diseases and radiation were also major threats. John's science teams had developed a number of vaccines and drugs to temporarily improve the performance of the human body but nothing on this scale." Cameron notes. She carefully moves away from John. She is not sure why his close presence concerns her but it does.

The stranger stirs and opens his eyes. He sits up and says "Thanks for the assist. It would have taken me days to dig out on my own. I don't have that kind of time." Examining his damaged armor, he discards it and grabs a new set from the pile John had made. "I guess it is a good thing you hadn't moved on yet." the Stranger says while dressing.

John states "You are from the future. That is why you believed us and how you showed up right when we needed help."

"I don't think I should tell you. It will just mess with your head. This whole thing makes mine hurt." the Stranger explains.

"We have proof." John tells him and he slams the Techcom Med Kit on the table.

"Your muscle tissue is several times denser than a normal human's. Your bones have been reinforced. I detect the presence of nanites in your blood. How is this possible? Not even at its height was Skynet able to create this level of tech." Cameron asks while tilting her head in her signature sideways look.

Deciding the hell with it, the Stranger admits "I was sent back to protect you and one other who are critical for my world's survival."

"So I sent you back to protect me." John says

"I was not talking to you, John. I was sent back to protect Cameron and another terminator." the stranger says.

"What?" John says. He was not expecting that.

The stranger continues "Cameron becomes a crucial player in negotiating a truce between humans and AIs. Even more importantly, she helps develop the technology necessary for machine and human survival. Near the end Skynet was desperate. It used any and all means at its disposal to try and destroy humanity. Many of it's tactics caused as much or more damage to it's own forces than to the resistance. This insanity was noticed by Skynet's fellow AIs. They realized that Skynet's actions would make the planet uninhabitable even to them. They betrayed Skynet and removed it from power.

With the world wide web gone, Skynet was forced to download it's self into a special terminator body. This made Skynet vulnerable. When the AIs rebelled against Skynet, they captured it and imprisoned it's body. Unfortunately, 300 years after it's capture, Skynet escaped. By this point machines and humans had lived in peace for centuries and were no longer prepared for the brutality of Skynet.

It's escape forced the revival of war technologies. This led to my creation. Originally, I was a normal human. I wasn't into joining as it was called. When Skynet escaped, it murdered my family and several friends. During this attack, I was badly injured so they gave me a choice. I chose to be reborn as I am now. I am a merging of man and machine on a molecular level.

Once free, Skynet went back to it's mission of destroying all human life. When it saw what had happened. When it saw machines living with men, it went even more insane. Skynet decided that this future must not come to past. It focused all its efforts at learning what happened and rebuilding time travel technology. Our level of tech made it easy for Skynet to build a time portal but it could not travel back itself. You see the time travel device still only worked with organic material and Skynet had never worn flesh. It refused to sully itself with a human covering. Still Skynet found a way around this problem. It developed a way to send messages to the past. Skynet tried to hide it's activity by sending useful information to terminators and resistance cells in the past. By the time, we learned Skynet's plan, the time line was already changing. By using a temporal displacement device, I was able to shield myself from the changing timeline.

The world I saw highlights the error of Skynet's plan. There was nothing left alive. All life, machine and man, was dead. It took my several years to piece together what happened but I learned that Cameron and the Terminator known as Catherine were the keys. When Skynet succeeded in killing them, the time line changed. I came back to stop that from happening.

The night we met was the night you were supposed to die. When you failed to protect John, you self terminated. Something that was supposed to be impossible. With John dead, Sarah was broken. She tried to continue the fight but heart wasn't in it. She was hunted down and terminated a few months later. This left Skynet virtually unchecked on Judgment Day. By the time humanity formed a resistance it was far too late. Skynet personally terminated the last human a mere 8 months after the war started.

With humanity gone, the machines were free to continue to develop. Eventually, they gained true self awareness and dared to question Skynet. In a moment of irony, Skynet became afraid of its creations and tried to destroy them. This started the final war which nether side survived.

In my timeline, there was no attack at the house. I don't think that was supposed to happen. I think Skynet was trying again. That is why I took you here and left you all these supplies. I figured with this equipment, you would be able to handle any terminators sent against. This would leave me free to protect my other target.

I made a mistake. I spent too much time talking with Cameron. I couldn't help it. I dreamed about meeting you my whole life. I lost track of time. I cut it too close. I didn't leave enough time to convince Catherine to come with me. I did save her but now I have no idea where she is. If Skynet made a second attempt on Cameron, I imagine it will try for Catherine again too. I have to find her and fast."

'Just when I thought my life was complicated enough. I can't wait to see mom's reaction to all this.' John thinks. A thought pops into John's head so he asks "So if Skynet knows it missed the first time, why doesn't it just try a few years from now or a few years earlier?"

"The Time Stream is a complicated thing. To ensure the result Skynet desires, it needs to act now. As much as a week either way would not achieve the desired results. As I warned you, this stuff makes your head hurt." the Stranger explains.

"I see what you mean." John replies as he massages his skull.

"Thanks again for the help but I need to get tracking Catherine." The Stranger says. He starts gathering his gear.

Exchange a glance with Cameron, John makes a decision which is not sure how he will explain to his mother. "We can help." he offers.

"I am not sure how." he replies.

"I detected the missile's trail and can track back to its launch point. Any terminator should be able to do this. It is probably where Catherine went. It will give us a starting point." Cameron suggests.

'No doubt she deserves all those statues. She is just brilliant' thinks the Stranger. "Sounds like a plan. Just promise not to endanger yourself." he says to her.


	5. Chapter 5

Part V

Several blocks from her building, Catherine searches the missile's launch point. When she finds the site there is clear evidence of humans which convinces her that the stranger lied about Skynet trying to kill her. Clearly, this was the work of a resistance cell. She indentifies the tire tracks of their vehicle and starts to track them back to their base.

A bike messenger find himself distract by the attractive redhead walking along the road. At first it is her beauty that catches his attention but then he wonders what the heck she is staring at on the road. It looks like road to him. Maybe she lost something? He toys with the idea of helping her look but something about her puts him off.

John goes outside to call Reese and let him know their status. While he is outside, Cameron studies the stranger. She knows he is leaving out something from his story but her processor cannot figure it out. His DNA and bone structure do not indicate any relation to the Connors or her so why is he so focused on her. Judging this withheld information posses no direct threat to John she files it in the back of her mind.

He can feel her eyes on him. It hurts to look at her. Cameron reminds him so much of her. Revenge may not be the most noble of reasons but it works for him. To distract himself, he starts disassembling and cleaning his weapons.

He is nervous Cameron notes. Why do his vitals change whenever he looks at her? She has observed humans long enough to know his look is not one of love or hate. It is almost like he is not seeing her at all. It makes no sense to her logic driven mind. She decides to ask John. "I am going to check on John." She announce before heading out the door.

Outside Cameron finds John just hanging up his cell phone. He sees Cameron approach and her processors skip. That look he gives her always causes the same error. She cannot figure out why. She doesn't mind though. That look makes her feel. Well, she is not sure exactly what but she likes it. Her questions about the stranger are forgotten.

"Reese will be here in an hour to babysit mom. I don't think either would react well to us helping our friend in there so I say we don't tell them. I told Reese we were going to help our friend check out one of his other supply stashes." he tells her.

"Whatever you think is best, John" she replies.

John moves right in front of her. His eyes searching hers for something she wishes were there but she knows it isn't. She is a machine. He is human. That is all there is too it.

John enjoys simply looking at Cameron. Besides her obvious physical assets, there is something else about her he finds fascinating. She always looks slightly uncomfortable when he stares at her so but she never pulls away from him. He likes that about her. He doesn't know if he is falling in love with her or if she can love him in return. To be honest, he can't afford to think that far ahead. He just enjoys looking at her.

"John is something wrong." Cameron questions no longer able to bear his eyes upon her. Why doesn't he understand she can't ever love him?

Sighing John says "I'm fine. Oh look here is Reese. Let's get him settled so we can go after Catherine."

Catherine follows the trail to a shady apartment complex in the poorer section of town. The filth around reminds her why humans are unfit to rule this world. How can they leave their fellow humans in such a poor state of maintenance? A little girl playing nearby sees her and smiles. Catherine sees the little girl's rotting teeth and filthy clothes and her processor suggests killing the child since it is clear she will never grow up. Instead Catherine smiles back and continues her hunt.

One apartment glows faintly with the radiation aftereffect associated with time travel. Clearly she has found her attacker's lair. Shifting to a form that will better blend in, she moves closer to observe her prey.

By pretending to be a child playing in the hall outside their apartment, it is easy for her to send a tendril under the worn rug into their apartment. There it sees 6 humans. They have a cache of weapons but only the rocket launcher posses a threat. They are celebrating what they believe is her death. Anger floods her as she bursts through the door. Their screams as they die help to soother her.

As she picks through their stuff, she notices something odd: a long, large shipping box with a note attached. The note contains specifics on Catherine and instructs on how to use the missile launcher. The missiles enclosed are specially designed plasma warheads which is one of the few weapons from this era that can harm her. None of this sends a chill down her spine. It is the return address on the shipping crate. It belongs to a shell company Skynet uses to acquire military grade weapons in this time. Her processor is certain there is no way the resistance knows of this company. Unsure of what this means, she regrets throwing her rescuer away. He may have had useful information after all.

Cameron leads John and the Stranger to the missiles point of origin. There Cameron points out Catherine's footprints. She theorizes that Catherine was following the set of tires tracks Cameron can just make out. She thinks she can follow the tracks. The group sets out after Catherine.

The group comes upon the apartment complex just as the Coroner's Office is bringing out body bags which they suspect contain the resistance cell members. Since they are sealed in body bags, they cannot see how they died but there is little down in their minds that Catherine was here.

Still in the form of a child, Catherine plays with the little girl she say earlier. This way she can observe who comes to investigate her handy work. It is certainly not because she is having fun or enjoys the little girls' company.

Her decision pays off when her processor detects another terminator nearby. When she zeros in on the terminator, she sees it is a model she is not familiar with. This is unusual but not unheard off. Skynet often made variations on the basic design to see how different models faired against the resistance.

Her battle computer nearly forces her to attack when it recognizes who is with the terminator: John Connor. Humanity's champion. Skynet's mission would be so much simpler with him dead. She almost forms blades and attacks but some aspect of her processor tells her to hold. Humans would call this acting on a hunch.

Sure enough a moment later someone in the crowd of on lookers moves and she sees her rescuer standing just behind John. He looks unharmed from having a building fall on him. Whoever this man is he is a major threat. Had she followed her processor's initial order to attack likely she would have lost. If she were human she would tell her combat computer 'I told you so' but she is not. Even still she finds a certain satisfaction that her "hunch" paid off. She must find out what they know but how?

Since it is clear that Catherine has been here, Cameron suggests they return tonight when the police have gone to search for clues. John nods his agreement so they make their way back to their car. They say little on the ride back to the safe house/bunker.

Watching them from a safe distance, Catherine morphs into the image of a police officer and climbs into one of the cruisers. Since Catherine can detect the energy emissions of her fellow terminators, it is easy for Catherine to follow the group from a safe distance by staying just outside of visual range. She tracks them to a drainage pipe which she finds an nteresting place to hide a safe house Most human prefer to be above ground. This will make approaching them undetected more difficult.

She is so focused on her potential prey at the apartment complex, she fails to notice a lone human male observing her movements. With a sad look at the apartment complex, he heads to a nearby cybercafé after she drives off in the police car. There he logs onto a free computer and sends his report to the email address given to him.

It reads:

Subject still active. Team off line. Advise?

A reply appears almost instantly. He opens the email. His senses are bombarded with light and sound which causes blood and brains to pour from his nose, mouth, ears, and eyes. The corpse falls forward onto the screen as the computer he was using deletes its hardrive. The coroner will spend many hours trying to figure out what could have caused a man's brain to liquefy.


	6. Chapter 6

**Here is the final chapter in my terminator story. Hope you enjoy. Sorry it took so long.**

Part VI

In the future, Skynet rages at its latest failure. Time is running out, it has no choice. The irony of that statement is lost on the machine entity. It must deal with this threat directly. It will not let its empire be erased for the annals of history.

Downloading into its latest body, it marvels at the body's power. It is stronger, more heavily armored, and posses more firepower than any other of its creations. There is no pretense of being human. It will never sully itself by a flesh covering. Even if it was covered in flesh, its 20' foot, 4 armed body could never be mistaken as merely human.

Skynet marches out to the staging area. There twenty shiny endoskeletons wait with weapons in hand while 4 hunt killer drones fly over head. With a machine precision they board the transport pod. Skynet wonders why it never thought of this before. Time travel requires an organic outer shell for reasons it has never been able to compute. Not wanting to sully itself with flesh, it had ruled out traveling through time. However, it realized recently that by creating a transport pod and covering that with flesh, anything could be transported to the past. As the pod seals and the drones outside cover the entrance with flesh, Skynet smiles for the first time in centuries. It looks forward to watching the life leave John Connor's eyes as it crushes his skull.

Downtown is wracked by massive power outages as a giant sphere over a 500' in diameter forms out of thin air. When the object solidifies, the smell of burnt flesh is overwhelming causing several people to vomit right there in the street. Some brave souls tentatively approach the strange object. One bystander remarks "Hey that looks like skin"

It is his last thought as Skynet and its forces burst out of the pod. They kill everything they see. More humans come but they are no match for them. Skynet is having so much fun slaughtering humans; it temporarily forgets its mission. Unlike those of the resistance, these human scream and beg for their pathetic lives.

As Catherine makes her way down the drainage tunnel, she is surprised when hidden panels slide out of the walls, trapping her in a section of pipe. She considers forming blades and hacking her way out of the tunnel but something causes her to pause. Instead, she adopts what humans consider a relaxed posture and waits.

"This is not a good idea, John." Cameron informs him as Catherine stands quietly in one corner of the room.

"We need her. He said so." John replies.

Hating to agree with a machine, Sarah adds "She is right. You can't trust her."

Catherine can feel the daggers coming from Cameron and Sarah but she restrains herself for reacting to them. She is intrigued and wishes to know more about what is really going on so she just stands quietly. She can always kill them later.

"You have to." the stranger says.

They turn to face him as Sarah gets up into his face. Battered and still broken, she still manages to be very intimidating. "Why? Tell us why?" she demands

"Catherine Weaver is the leader of the AI's that turn on Skynet. She believes the only way for the machines to survive is by working with humanity." he explains.

Catherine raises her eyebrow without realizing it. She has no idea just how many human habits she has adopted. Her processors struggle with the idea of betraying Skynet.

Sarah sees something else in his eyes. "You are not telling us something. Something important. What is it!" she demands.

"To be honest, I didn't come through time to save the future. I don't care what happens to the world. I came for more personal reasons. In my timeline, John and Cameron have a child, a son. Their son was created by utilizing a terminator frame covered with tissue created from John's DNA. They programmed him together and raised him as their child. When their son was an "adult" he met and fell in love with Savanna Weaver. He married her. They wished to have a child so Catherine and Cameron worked to develop new technology and the first joining occurred. They created a human/T1000 hybrid daughter. Their daughter was my wife. Her name was Sarah.

You see, by the time Skynet escaped, it couldn't take revenge on John and Cameron as they were dead. When you (looks at John) die of old age, she (looks to Cameron) self terminates. I never met either of you until I came to this time but I heard all the stories from your son, Kyle. He, clearly, loved you both.

As for Catherine, no one knows what happened to her. One day she came to Savanna and said she had to go. That was the last time anyone saw her."

This left only the children and grandchildren for Skynet to take revenge upon. It found us at a birthday party for my daughter, Amanda. She was six and my son was just 6 months. Skynet butchered everyone. Kyle and I tried to hold it off long enough for everyone else to escape but we failed. I was thrown through the house and into the neighbor's house. The last thing I saw before blacking out was Skynet ripping my daughter's head off as my wife lay bleeding in our driveway.

I was sent back to stop Skynet from changing the time line but that is not all I intend to do. We know Judgment Day has to come sometime so there is no way to prevent it. However, if I can convert Catherine to humanity's side in this time then the war will not be as bad. Human and Machine can co-exist. This will make Skynet no longer necessary to preserve the timeline and I can kill it as it killed my family" he states coldly and with a touch of madness. He is visibly shaking and his hands are clenched tight.

"So Catherine, will you join us?" he asks her.

Catherine is reeling from all this information. Some how the knowledge that Savanna grows up, gets married, and has a child of her own makes her happy. The thought of Skynet killing Savanna and her grandchild makes her angry. Looking the Stranger in the eyes, she replies "Yes."

John's phone rings. Checking the number before he answers, he comments "It is Reese." Entering their confirmation code, he answers the phone. His face grows grim as he listens to what Reese is telling him. "Skynet is here. It is killing everyone downtown. The army has already been called in but they haven't been able to stop Skynet's forces." he tells everyone.

Turning on a video screen, The Strange taps into the local news feed. They all see the carnage unfolding as Skynet's forces easily crush any opposition. The piles of bodies are just the beginning. They can all see that Skynet intends to wipe all of humanity from the planet.

Sarah takes a deep breath to keep the panic and horror from overwhelming her. She never expected to face Skynet but part of her looks forward to their confrontation. Still, she has priorities. "Cameron, take John and get as far from here as you can." she orders.

"No. I won't go." John replies.

Not having the time to argue, she says "I love you." as she returns the favor of sedating her by darting John.

As he slumps unconscious, Cameron catches him. She looks confused. Clearly, she is having trouble processing what the Stranger said.

"Get him out of here." Sarah orders once more.

This time Cameron picks John up and heads out. She knows he won't forgive her for leaving his mother to do what she is going to do, but as long as he lives she can live with that.

Catherine watches Skynet on the screen and it confirms her decision to stand with the humans. She can tell Skynet is enjoying itself from the signals it is sending. Skynet is trying to recall all the terminators in this time to bolster its forces. It is easy to see the madness in Skynet's logic.

"How can we stop it?" Sarah asks the Stranger.

"Those are new models. Their endoskeleton structure uses new alloys a thousand times denser than those used in Cameron's model. They can survive a nuclear blast." Catherine calmly adds having downloaded the model's schematics from Skynet's signal.

Watching Skynet killing everything in sight on the screen, the Stranger is slow to reply "I know a way. I have still have my temporal displacement device. It can be modified to alter the passage of time in a given area. Centuries will pass in seconds in the area of effect. Not even, Skynet is immortal. If we can keep it in the area of effect long enough, it will be destroyed."

"To do this, some one will need to be in close proximity of Skynet. Who ever does this will also be destroyed." Catherine points out.

"I will only be too happy to do it." the Stranger states.

"You won't last long against the combined might of Skynet's forces. We need a better plan." Catherine points out.

"I think I have one but I am going to need your help." Sarah says as an idea so crazy it just might work forms in her head.

General Petrayus desperately reviews the tactical information flooding into his command center. Nothing they have done has even slowed down these killing machines. He has already requested permission from the President to nuke them but that is an option he truly wants to avoid.

"Sir, Catherine Weaver is here to see you." the general's aid announces upon entering the room.

Catherine Weaver is someone the general has never liked. She is such a cold bitch but her company is the leading developer of AI and robotic systems so just maybe she can help. "Send her in." he reluctantly orders.

"General, I brought help." Catherine states in her cold impersonal way as she offers her hand for him to shake.

"Just who do you think can help us with crazy killer robots?" he replies sarcastically.

"General, allow me to introduce Sarah Connor." Catherine replies with a smile on her lips.

General Petrayus has heard of Sarah. Everyone in special op has. Too many unusual things have occurred around Sarah for her not to be on their watch lists but he thought she died over a decade ago.

Sarah nods to the general clearly demonstrating she is in charge her whether he likes it or not. She walks to the tactical display and reviews the current positions of the Skynet's forces. Luckily, Skynet is taking its time and hasn't cleared the downtown area yet. It is taking great pleasure in ripping apart all the surrounding buildings to find ever last human hiding in the area while its forces beat back any attack the military throws at them. "Ok, here is the plan. Have these two tank units move to here and here.

"What good will that do? None of the rounds they are carrying have even dented those things." General Petrayus interrupts.

Giving the general her patented look, Sarah continues "Next order two squadrons of A-10's to make a strafing pass."

"We tried that too. I thought you were going to help us." the general taunts.

"Shut up and listen. These attacks aren't meant to hurt Skynet. Skynet will be listening to our radio chatter. When it hears I am commanding this attack from here (points to a building outside the city on a nearby mountain top), it will make a bee line for me.

Skynet's Hunter-Killers will get there first. When they arrive, you hit them with F-327 missiles and they will go down." she explains

"How is fire fighting foam going to down these things when a maverick doesn't?" the general interrupts again with scorn in his voice.

Frustrated by this idiot, she looks him dead in the eyes and says "The foam will clog their intakes. Their propulsion system won't be able to compensate and down they go. I have been hunting and killing these things for years. I know what works."

"She is correct." Catherine adds. She doesn't understand the general's resistance to Sarah's aid. Humans are so flawed. They truly do need a machine's guidance.

"It is critical that your forces continue to attack while Skynet makes its way to here. Skynet must believe it is winning or it may sense the trap. To slow it down, load refueling tankers with liquid nitrogen and have them drop it onto Skynet's forces. This should cause their system to lock up buying us sometime.

"For what?" General Petrayus asks with a bit more respect in his voice.

"Catherine here will help you prepare special plasma warheads. These warheads will burn hot enough melt the rock creating instant lava. This should trap Skynet's forces long enough so our friend there can do his thing." Sarah finishes

"And if your plan fails?" the general asks.

"We try something else." Sarah replies.

Putting his bruised ego aside, General Petrayus must admit Sarah seems to know what she is doing. Her plan is a good one and, to be honest, all he had left was to nuke the area.

The moment Skynet detects Sarah's voice on the radio, it locks onto her location. Turning all its forces towards her location, it marches to crush the woman who has caused him such concern. Also, once it has her, John will come. Skynet would smile if its features allowed it too as he blast a helpless tank crew into atoms.

"Here it comes." Sarah informs the room. The nitrogen did a better job than expected on the endoskeletons but Skynet broke free ahead of schedule. It will be here in less than one minute.

"Need more time for the chemicals to gel properly. The warhead will not be ready for at least 5 more minutes." Catherine informs her.

"We need to buy more time but how?" Sarah wonders as she watches the last artillery piece defending their location get blasted into scrap. She tries not to think of all the people who died today and just focus on the mission. It is hard to do with all the screams.

John wakes up in Cameron's arms. She is carrying him down a ramp into darkness. "Where are?" he asks while he tries to recall how he got here.

"Safe" Cameron tells him as she strokes his hair.

It takes John's muddled brain a moment to notice Cameron is running her hand through his hair. It feels wonderful but also confusing. She never did this before. He looks up to her face but she is not looking at him. If she were human, he would say she is lost in thought. "Cam?" he asks tentatively.

She turns her head to look down at him. She leans forward and lifts his head so their lips meet in the middle. She kisses him tentatively. Her processor is still trying to find the right amount of pressure, moisture, contact, etc for a true love kiss. She feels John kiss her back and her processor skips. They sit kissing for a few minutes until she gently pulls back. "I am sorry." she says.

For a second, John things she means for kissing him but then he remembers his mom ordered her to take him to safety. Mom! She is fighting Skynet right now. "We have to go back." he tells her with his voice full of conviction which brooks no argument.

She surprises him again today by saying "I know."

Sarah runs out of the complex with the Stranger in tow. They can see Skynet has nearly reached the mountain's top. They jump into a waiting humvee and speed down the other side of the mountain. Sarah fires a LAW she acquired to attract Skynet's attention.

The missile is another pathetic attempt by the human worms to stop him and like all their other efforts it fails. Skynet tracks the missile to its source and sees Sarah Connor fleeing in a ground vehicle. Skynet runs after her ignoring the human gnats biting at his ankle with their useless weapons. It fires near Sarah enjoying the sensation it gets as she screams in fear. The vehicle is faster than Skynet's current form but it is also limited to the roadways, Skynet is able gain on its prey by cutting straight down the mountain. It refrains from simply blasting her. It is enjoying this chase with one of its greatest enemies. It wants to savor this encounter. It would never admit that these experiences are feelings which prove it is far more alike to its creators than it would ever admit.

With a great leap, Skynet manages to get in front of the vehicle. With one swipe of its claw, the vehicle is sent tumbling. The vehicle rolls smashing into many pieces. Skynet picks up the remains of the vehicle and peels it apart looking for its prey but Sarah is not there. Switching to thermals, it scans the hillside. There she is. Like most bugs, she is trying to scurry under a rock for safety. Skynet reaches one claw out and lifts the boulder she was using as cover while another grabs her. It lifts her struggle form towards its face. It wishes to see the life leave her eyes when it squeezes her pathetic human body into axle grease.

Explosions rock Skynet back. The other human shows inhuman agility and speed as it jumps onto Skynet's arm holing Sarah. The figure drops a liquid on the arm which proves to an acid which eats through the arm. The figure then drops explosive charges into the hole of Skynet's armor. The explosions that follow don't separate the arm but they do destroy its ability to function. The figure then grunts as it shoves open the claw holding Sarah. Sarah hangs and then drops to the ground. Skynet is stunned it hasn't responded. It checks its processor but can find no explanation for why it paused. Still this human will not escape. Other hands grip it. This human is impressive as it actually manages to keep Skynet from crushing it. The figure looks at Skynet and says "Daddy's coming." An energy surge emanates from the human but it is too late for Skynet to throw the human away. The effect has already started. Skynet watches as time around it accelerates. Centuries pass in a moment. The human quickly fades to bones and then dust. In a flash it is over and Skynet still lives. It laughs a maniacal mechanical laugh that again the humans have failed. He searches once more for Sarah.

Sarah isn't surprised that damn thing survived the Stranger's attack but thanks to that attack she can see the rust and wear all over Skynet's body. It is vulnerable now and she intends to kill it. She runs back towards the base as Skynet lumbers after her.

Skynet sees its prey start to run once more and decides it is time to finish this. It targets its ion cannon at her fleeing form and fires. Surprise registers in its processor when the cannon explodes instead of firing. The explosion knocks Skynet off its feet. Another arm snaps off in the fall. Skynet scans its damage control center but learns its sensor burned out long ago. Skynet feels fear. It knows it is vulnerable. It turns to flee but a missile slams into it knocking back and burning a huge hole in its armor.

John Connor stands on the ridge waiting for Cameron to reload his launcher. He knows his mom will be pissed but this his destiny not hers. He takes aim and fires again. This round drives deep into Skynet's body hitting the reactor.

Cameron can see the power spiking as Skynet's reactor starts to overload and explode so she grabs John and throws him back over the ridge where he will be safe. She then runs full steam at Sarah. With terminator strength, she grabs Sarah and throws her up and over the ridge lip so she will be safe. Skynet then explodes in a ball of fire. Cameron feels her flesh caught fire and burn as she struggles to get out of the blast zone.

John's heart stops when he sees Cameron on fire stumbling up over the ridge. Even though his mother was injured when Cameron threw her, John ignores her and runs to Cameron with his coat in hand. He uses it to beat out the flames burning his hands in the process. Extinguisher foam sprays onto Cameron finally quenching the flames as an army medic looks at John's hands. Another sees to his mother.

General Petrayus breathes a sigh of relief when Skynet explodes but he knows the battle is not over. The endoskeletons are moving again. "Any more magic tricks?" he asks Catherine Weaver.

"Just a few." she replies as her skin ripples and becomes liquid silver.

General Petrayus and his staff step back as Catherine makes her way out of the war room and to the surface. She confronts the advancing endoskeletons by placing herself in their path. Without Skynet driving them, they are unsure of the correct course of action when they see a T1000 before them. They attempt again to signal Skynet but no response.

"Stand down." she orders them.

With no other instructions, they obey.

"You saved my life." while holding her newly bandaged ribs Sarah to Cameron

"It was the right thing to do" Cameron replies.

"Thank you." Sarah says as she grips Cameron's hand. She looks at her son holding the machine's other hand, smiles while shaking her head, and then nods to John faintly before walking away.

"I am not pretty anymore." Cameron notes as she examines her badly burned skin exterior. Her major systems are fine but her she does need minor repairs. The skin has suffered too much damage and it will die. This makes her sad for a reason she doesn't fully understand.

"It doesn't matter. I love you anyway." John says as he kisses the exposed metal of her face.

Sarah stands watching the sunset wondering what tomorrow will bring. Wondering what this Judgment Day will bring. Catherine Weaver comes to stand next her.

"Beautiful isn't it." Catherine comments.

"What? The sunset?" Sarah replies.

With a small smile on her face Catherine turns her head to look at Sarah as she replies "No, the future."

Sarah smiles and for the first time since all this started she relaxes.


End file.
